Thursday, August 19, 2010

Keeping you up-to-date on the vital Gjovaag experiment in growing things...
Let's start with the one dollar tomatoes!

They are very triffidy now, and up to my chest in height. I have learned a LOT about growing tomatoes, mostly what not to do. Next year: I will plant them farther apart. A LOT farther apart. I will prune them before they start budding in clumps of five or six. I will figure out a way to use drip irrigation, since the soaker hoses just don't last out here. Otherwise, I think I've done ok.

I don't think the tomatoes growing in clumps are going to get any bigger than this, but the ones that came off earlier aren't ripening, so I'm not sure what to do with them. I was hoping for actual ripe red tomatoes, but that's not happening. Anyone with tomato experience got any ideas? How do I make fried green tomatoes?

Meanwhile, the plum stick continues to grow, and hopefully has enough roots down to survive the winter. I will keep watering until the irrigation water is shut off, then maybe I'll water with house water until it freezes. I don't know. I just hope it can survive.

On the same lines is the grass we've seeded. As you can see, it is growing in a nice area around the stick, but there are some bare patches. Not for lack of trying to seed them. Unfortunately, every time I seed those areas they get picked over by the birds quickly. The tumbleweed may be annoying, but it hides some of the seed from the birds so they can't eat it all. I'm not sure how to get those bare patches seeded except maybe to seed them and put chicken wire over the areas so the birds can't reach the seed. I think they neighbor tried that and it worked for one bit but not the entire area.

In any case, where the grass grows in strong, the tumbleweed is losing the battle. So next year I just need to start seeding grass earlier and keep up with the mowing, and hopefully I'll have a lawn instead of just a yard.

Hmmm. I've never had a feeder out, so they don't automatically associate my yard with food. I tried raking the seeds in, but not that deep, so maybe I'll try that again. Haven't tried mulch, but that might work.